Knicks Name Steve Mills GM in Place of Glen Grunwald

Front-Office Upheaval Less Than a Week Before Training Camp

By

Chris Herring

Updated Sept. 26, 2013 7:25 p.m. ET

Any way you slice it, the Knicks' announcement Thursday—that they are replacing esteemed general manager
Glen Grunwald
with former MSG Sports executive Steve Mills less than a week before the start of training camp—was a most puzzling move.

The move raised a number of questions, several of which may never yield answers. But it also made one thing clear: Team owner
James Dolan
,
apparently unhappy with the current state of Knickerbocker affairs, had a different plan in mind.

ENLARGE

New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh, left, and MSG sports president Steve Mills in this 2008 file photo.
Associated Press

Why else would the Knicks, widely seen as having overachieved last season, reassign Grunwald—who finished third in the league's executive of the year voting last season—to the role of adviser?

The Knicks' 54 wins were the most the franchise had posted in a single season since 1997. And the first-round victory over the Boston Celtics was the Knicks' first series win since 2000.

They managed both feats despite by taking a gamble: The 2012-13 Knicks, way above the salary cap before training camp even started, became the oldest team in league history, as Grunwald signed a number of experienced veterans on the cheap. (And it was under his watch that Jeremy Lin was discovered.)

By nearly all accounts, Grunwald—who initially took over in 2011 on an interim basis following Donnie Walsh's exit—did well with a difficult situation. Few could have expected last season's No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Still, Dolan probably wasn't thrilled to see the rival Nets steal headlines and make strides, both this summer and last, by pulling off blockbuster trades despite also being far above the cap.

It is hard to overstate the importance of Thursday's move—even without knowing precisely why Grunwald was taken out of his role—when one considers the issues facing the franchise in the coming months.

At the top of that list: NBA scoring champ Carmelo Anthony can opt out of his deal to become a free agent.

And the pressure would appear to be building for coach Mike Woodson, who—despite reaching 50 wins faster than any coach in team history—just lost his greatest front-office ally in Grunwald, his former college teammate at Indiana. Woodson is entering the second year of a three-year contract, one that carries no guarantee in the final season of the deal.

In a statement, Dolan—who formally spoke to basketball reporters Wednesday for the first time in six years and did so without mentioning Grunwald—thanked his outgoing general manager for his efforts while praising Mills's basketball acumen.

"I am pleased to be able to welcome Steve back to the Knicks," Dolan said. "He is a well-respected sports executive with a strong background in basketball, as well as a familiarity with NBA operations and our company."

The irony, of course, is that many of the team's fans would probably prefer Grunwald's stewardship to that of Mills, in large part because of the largely unsuccessful 10-year stretch in which Mills oversaw the Knicks' operations before being demoted in 2008.

His time overlapped with that of Isiah Thomas, when the Knicks performed poorly on the court and created negative story lines off it. In 2007, the team and Madison Square Garden were ordered by a jury to pay $11.6 million to Anucha Browne Sanders in a sexual-harassment lawsuit that claimed Thomas, a Dolan confidant, made unwanted advances toward her. Thomas denied the allegations.

It is unknown how long Mills will serve as GM, but there is speculation that Grunwald's removal as general manager was done to make room for assistant general manager/ex-Knicks star Allan Houston. Houston was unavailable for comment Thursday.

With the regular season starting Oct. 30, and so many big-ticket issues on the docket after season's end, Thursday's move looked questionable and heavy-handed. It could turn out to be misguided.

But really, only Dolan knows his plan. And given his reluctance to speak publicly about his team, we already know he's OK with being the only one to understand it.

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